Photo: Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Richard Henderson was born on July 19, 1945 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom and is credited as a molecular biologist, biochemist and chemist. Richard Henderson is 81 years old as of 2026. Schooling on record includes Boroughmuir High School and University of Cambridge. Recorded honors include Fellow of the Royal Society, Rosenstiel Award (1990), Ernst Ruska Prize (1980) and 5 more.
My Take
What I admire most about Henderson is how quietly he changed everything. There's no flashy persona here, no glamour, just an Edinburgh-born scientist who spent decades coaxing biological molecules into focus under an electron microscope. That patience earned him a share of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but the prize feels almost incidental to the work itself. In an age obsessed with visibility, I find something deeply refreshing about a man who let his results speak and stayed invisible. He reshaped cryo-electron microscopy and let the field, not himself, take the spotlight.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Richard Henderson
- Name (Japanese)
- リチャード・ヘンダーソン
- Reading
- りちゃーど・へんだーそん
- Born
- July 19, 1945 (age 81)
- Origin
- Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Occupation
- molecular biologist / biochemist / chemist / crystallographer / biologist
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Rooster
2. Background
- High school
- Boroughmuir High School
- University
- University of Cambridge
Awards & achievements
- Fellow of the Royal Society
- 1990 Rosenstiel Award
- 1980 Ernst Ruska Prize
- 1978 William Bate Hardy Prize
- 2016 Alexander Hollaender Award in Biophysics
- 1984 Sir Hans Krebs Medal
- 1999 Gregori Aminoff Prize
- 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
3. Links
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Richard Henderson born?
Richard Henderson was born on July 19, 1945 and is 81 years old.
Where is Richard Henderson from?
Richard Henderson is from Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
What does Richard Henderson do?
Richard Henderson works as molecular biologist, biochemist, chemist, crystallographer, biologist.
Where did Richard Henderson study?
Richard Henderson attended University of Cambridge.
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